(English) Communication and tasks in second language teaching

What is the nature of communication? Very often communication in second language teaching is equated to the use of the Q/A paradigm. Q/A practice very often resolves in the following: few learners participate; native speaker speaks a lot; roles for both instructor and learner are restricted; language learner speaks very little; not much interaction and negotiation of meaning. Communication cannot be equated with questions and answers (Q/A) practice. Communication is the expression, interpretation and negotiation of meaning in a given context. How do we ensure we implement this concept in second language teaching? Tasks (and not exercises) should form the backbone of the language curriculum. Tasks are the quintessential communicative event in contemporary language teaching. They involve the use of the language to express and interpret meaning and their main purpose is not language practice. In this module we will explore the role of tasks in the language classroom. Participants will be able to develop their own material (oral, reading and comprehension, listening and writing tasks) and plan how to test the effectiveness of tasks in the language classroom through ‘action research’.